Tales of Harmonia
by Dammitthatguytookmyusername
Summary: 5 years ago I was just a lowly knight trying to make his rent at the end of the month, then the next thing you know I get a promotion and get partnered up with the poster child of the Papal Knights. After that, I get an assignment from the King himself who expects me to protect the one person who will bring back hope to a dying world.
1. This Hard Land

**A/N: Feel free to review and make sure to be constructive with the criticism, and enjoy. Oh yeah, and I also don't own anything Tales related, all of that goes to NamcoBandai. **

**Chapter 1: This Hard Land**

_**Present**_

Am I living, or am I dreaming?

To be honest I don't care for the answer. The idea of a better tomorrow is the only thing that keeps me going these days as I sit here and bide my time. All that's left for me are fragments of the past…

Looking back, in just one instant my life completely changed forever, it all feels so surreal to say the least. The people that I care for are no longer around or in good terms with, and I'm not the same person I was five years ago.

And yet after all these changes, the past still haunts me to this day…

The past... playing the same scenario over and over again in my head, and wishing I would have made better decisions and notice things I missed. The more I relive those fragments the more I start to question whether or not if I'm dreaming.

It's funny, my whole life I ponder on and on again about the past and future, but rarely do I ever get to think about the present. To be honest I'd rather dream, at least I can sleep while at it.

_**Past**_

**In Tethe'alla, Temple of Earth**

"Okay Chosen Tabatha, let's rest here for tonight," ordered a blonde haired man donning a heavy suit of green armor as he set two traveling packs and his sheathed sword on the ground.

"Too heavy…" a raven haired man clad in the same green armor huffed as he climbed up the cliff supporting a mint haired woman on his back by holding her legs from behind while she wrapped her arms around his neck. The knight was also holding his sword sheath by its leather straps with his already occupied right hand.

"Alright Tabatha, you can get off of Leon's back," the blonde haired knight said.

"Oh, okay," Tabatha simply replied and climbed off Leon's back who then collapsed into a heaping mess of fatigue and sweat onto the dusty earth.

"Tobey, this suit of armor isn't good for anything, if anything, it's going to be the death of me…" Leon mumbled through his exhaustion with his face still planted on the floor.

"Stop complaining, that armor will save your life one day, I guarantee it!" Tobias screamed which echoed through the temple and made Tabatha jump. "Also, you're a Papal Knight; show some dignity, especially in front of the Chosen!" Tobias added.

"Mmmh… Do you always have to be such a hard ass even when we're not in front of the King or Pope?" Leon muttered as he looked up at Tobias.

"Yes, cause even if we were in the presence of his Majesty or Holiness you'd still be disrespectful with your inappropriate casual tone, and I always gotta be the one who takes the heat cause I'm your captain."

"Sir Knight Tobias, please don't be hard on Le –er…. I mean Sir Knight Leon," Tabatha gently interjected. This quickly got the attention of Tobias who then looked at Tabatha with a raised eyebrow.

"Sir Knight Leon has been through a lot assisting me and has been good company since this journey started, so please, it breaks my heart when a honorable knight yells at his subordinates without good reason," Tabatha pleaded Tobias.

The blonde haired knight watched Tabatha's tears forming on the corners of her hazel eyes which Tobias couldn't help, but blush from her subtle beauty.

"I…I'm deeply s-sorry Tabatha…I mean Chosen Tabatha… I'll respect your wishes," he said briskly.

Tobias started to feverishly walk to the other part of the cliff to collect fire wood meanwhile Leon managed to get himself together and walk towards Tabatha.

"Thanks for the help, nice touch with the water works too." Leon whispered.

"No, it's nothing, I just don't like it when people fight, all the yelling starts to get to me" she whispered back.

**Later that evening**

"Dammit Tobey!" yelled Leon whose voice echoed throughout the stone fetish temple.

The raven haired knight was kneeling and lifted the metal lid from the cooking pot that was being supported by the campfire.

"You left the curry too long on the fire, now it's all brunt… Oh Martel… I'm not even sure if this is edible anymore!" The raven haired man yelled and pointed at the brown and charred substance in the pot.

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it and it's just well-cooked. I'd like to see you do better!" rebutted Tobias.

Leon scoffed at Tobey's statement and replied, "Okay, calling this curry 'well cooked' is probably the biggest understatement of the year and I'm pretty sure MY cooking hasn't got anyone sick since we started this journey!" Leon finished as he nodded his head towards Tabatha, who was covering her mouth with one hand and gripping her stomach with the other. As soon as all eyes were on Tabatha she immediately noticed and frantically put both hands on both sides of her body and stood up straight.

"N- No, No, it's okay Tobias I really like your curry, I'm just not hungry as all" she said while frantically waving both hands.

Tabatha's expression was trying to crack a smile, but an unpleasant grimace was all she could muster from the bad taste which Leon instantly caught on. "Taby, you don't need to be so empathetic, just tell me if you want me to cook for the rest of this journey and I'll do it," the raven haired knight gently inputted.

Tobias finally registered Tabatha's unsavory smile as well and replied, "I- I- I'm sorry Tabatha, I didn't mean to…"

"N-No, No Tobias, your cooking just needs a little more practice and I'm pretty sure Leon and I can help you the next time you cook," Tabatha abruptly interrupted him and ended with a dimpled smile to reassure him everything was fine.

Tobias couldn't help, but blush at the sight of Tabatha's sweet assurance and quickly jerked his head towards the curry pot to avoid her noticing his complexion. Leon couldn't help, but crack a quick laugh at the situation only to have Tobias silence him by giving him a stern look with light shades of red on both sides of his cheeks. Leon responded with a cheeky smirk while rolling his eyes and placed the metal lid on top of the pot.

"Guess I'm going to starve tonight," Leon sighed as he lied down with his arms crossed behind his heads.

Tobias removed the metal lid again and scooped some curry out of the pot using the wooden spoon and poured the thick brown paste into his bowl.

"Just don't complain to me about getting hungry tomorrow when we release the seal."

"Are you seriously still going to eat that?" Leon asked in disbelief while looking at the bowl of brown goop Tobias was holding.

"You heard Tabatha, she just wasn't hungry, and besides wasting food is…" Tobias' trail of words were at a halt when he took a spoonful of his own curry into his mouth and immediately spat it out with Tabatha rushing into her bag for her water canteen to give to him.

"What'd I tell you? Not even the great Tobias of the Papal Knights is safe from his own cooking."

"Leon! Please help him; I think the curry was too spicy for him!" Tabatha demanded while digging through her bag while Tobias was rolling on the ground holding his throat and sticking out his tongue for some water.

To be honest the entire scene was hilarious to Leon, having to bite his lower lip to stop himself from laughing out loud.

**The next morning…**

"Ugh, damn it, I hate having the last shift of night watch…" Leon sighed as he sat at the edge of the cliff they were camping out on with his sheathed sword by his side.

Bellow Leon was nothing, but a huge fall to Martel knows where and when you'd get there. Behind him were Tabatha and Tobias sleeping near the campfire which was dwindling away from the lack of fuel. Tabatha started to stir and opened hers eyes to see Tobias sound asleep, but her back sore from the hard ground. Not being able to sleep again from her pain, she rose up and stretched her vertebrae and noticed Leon sitting on the edge. Leon heard footsteps coming from behind and looked to see Tabatha walking in his direction.

"You're still awake? You should really get some sleep, Taby," Leon said to her while she took a seat on the edge of the cliff right next to him.

"I don't mean to complain or anything, but it's just the cold hard ground really does a toll on your back and it's been keeping awake!" Tabatha exclaimed while putting both hands on her back and arching it.

Leon's eyes couldn't, but help wander towards Tabatha's bosom as it was sticking out while arching her back which Leon quickly looked away and concentrated on the dark abyss below him.

"Heh, you'll get use to roughing it out. Sooner or later you'll get more of a backbone for these situations, or lose what's left of it so you won't feel anything."

"Oh, I think I'm getting to that point," Tabatha replied while returning to her normal posture.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, but it was partly due to Leon's lack of energy from not eating and getting the last shift of night watch.

"So… Taby? Is that what you always do?" Tabatha asked to break the silence.

"Hmm? Always what?" mumbled Leon with his eyes still fixated at the abyss.

"You know, shorten people's names and add a 'Y' to the end of it?"

Leon faced Tabatha's inquisitive face and lightly chuckled.

"Hee hee… it makes things a lot easier to say. Why? Do you not like it?" Leon said with a fake pout.

"N-no, I like it, a nice change of pace really, it's just… You know…" Tabatha started to look into the distance of the stone canyons of the temple. "Being the chosen all my life, I'm just so use to people treating me so formal and serious and I'm always expected to be the spitting image of perfection with all that's weighing on me."

"Ah… I know what you mean. Having to carry the burden of bringing hope back to a dying world is a lot to fathom I'd imagine."

"When you put it that way it only makes it worse…" Tabatha said while rubbing both sides of her temples.

Leon lightly chuckled and patted Tabatha's right shoulder.

"You don't have to carry that burden alone; Tobey and I will have your back no matter what, we're a team. You know? Like the three musketeers from those dusty old books!" He exclaimed while raising his fist in the air.

"Really? Because you two seem to fight a lot, I have my doubts you two will ever agree on anything," Tabatha commented with a hint of skepticism.

"Tobias? No, I don't hate him or anything, I know he means well when he's such a hard ass about everything. Though, he can go a little overboard with the whole 'honor' and 'knighthood' spiel."

"Despite not agreeing on everything, I can tell he really cares for you," Tabatha said with a genuine smile.

Leon felt a little uncomfortable and rubbed the back of his head, darting his eyes left and right looking for a response in his mind.

"Uh, yeah, I… I guess…" he said as he wrinkled his face fearing that Tabatha might get the wrong idea between him and Tobias.

Tabatha responded with a gentle laugh, but the laughter died out soon and her expression faded into melancholy and looked down into the deep abyss below them. Leon was quick to note the change in her expression.

"You okay Taby?" he asked with deep concern in his voice.

"Leon, can I tell you something?" She asked while looking back at Leon.

"Sounds serious, you sure you want to tell me?"

"Yeah, I do. Ever since our old school days you've always strike me as the kind of guy who can keep secrets," she added.

"School… Well that brings up a lot of unwanted and repressed memories… "

"S-sorry I didn't mean t-"

"Tabatha, Tabatha, it's okay." Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just tell me what's eating you," Leon continued.

"Well, I… I worry for what might happen to you during this journey."

Leon's chest felt tense and could feel the hairs behind his neck stand up.

"Tabatha… What do you mean? Like what might happen when we release the seals? I'm fully aware of what to expect."

Tabatha did her best to restrain herself from talking anymore by pursing her lips together.

"You've got the two best swordsmen of the Papal Knights, I promise I won't die out and leave you. And when all of this is over you 'll be having your named cheered throughout all of Tethe'alla and we'll still be friends after all of this," Leon finished as his mouth curled into a light smile and raised his thumb towards Tabatha.

Tabatha eyes quickly darted away from Leon's and looked at the abyss again while twiddling with her thumbs.

"Umm… Say Leon? What do you plan on doing after all of this is over?" She inquired while still looking away as she placed her hands to the side to support her as she sat back.

"I dunno… Whatever the king or pope orders me to do I guess… either that or I just bum it out in the Lower district and blow a couple tunes on my harmonica."

"Harmonica?" Her eyes reverting back to Leon.

"Yeah, you know the small metal instrument that you blow into?" Leon asked as he whipped out the small metal rectangular instrument from the cloth pocket of his armor and held it in front of Tabatha's face.

"Oh, wow…. I've never actually seen nor heard of one before…" she said while scooting closer to Leon and fixating her eyes towards the harmonica on Leon's palm. "You think you could play a quick tune, Leon?" She asked while reverting her eyes back to Leon's face.

"I'm not use to an audience…" but as soon as he said that, Tabatha's lips started take shape into a pout.

"Ah, but what the hell?" he said while squirming in his place to adjust his distance from Tabatha and his sitting posture so that his legs were hanging from the cliff.

Once he was in the correct position he placed his mouth over the cool metals of the blow chambers and blew a gentle and steady note. Leon went on and meticulously blew each note from the wind of his breath which then reverberated throughout the Earth temple's acoustics, and eventually each correct note came together in a slow harmony. Tabatha's ears started to perch and her hazel eyes slowly closed halfway in trance to the peaceful melody.

As Leon got further into the song, like a sudden jolt he closed his eyes and suddenly slurred the notes while jerking his head to the rhythm. The sudden increased pace was a shock to Tabatha causing her half opened eyes to pry completely open. Leon's legs started to kick back and forth as they hung from the cliff putting more passion into the tune. Tabatha began to adapt to the change in the melody by gently rocking her head to the whimsical barrage of notes that echoed throughout the temple. Leon's rapid movement to the melody was at a halt and blew a long high pitched note as the morning sun from outside the temple started to rise and seep through the temple's cracks. The creeping yellow light radiated on both Leon and Tabatha, slowly casting their stretched shadows from behind them on to the cliff they were sitting on. Leon ended the long held note and returned to the slow and meticulous melody previously played. As soon as the morning sun settled into the sky, the gentle hums of the harmonica slowly concluded with a continuous high note which echoed and faded away into the distance of the temple.

Leon slowly took his mouth away from the instrument and shortly caught his breath in one huff.

He paused for a moment and looked at his harmonica that he was holding between his index fingers and thumbs. He noticed the glimmering shine the harmonica was giving off from the sunlight and cracked a light smirk. Leon silently reminisced about the memories the harmonica had attached to it and sighed as he stuffed his metal instrument back into his pocket.

"What a sad tune…" muttered Tabatha as she studied Leon.

"Sun's up, we should get going," Leon plainly said as he got up, avoiding to look at Tabatha and walked towards the campsite.

"Leon…" Tabatha silently said to herself as she watched him walk away while still sitting at the edge.

**At the seal**

The three arrived at the circular altar where a yellow aura radiated from above. Leon's eyes studied the rock formations that surrounded the altar; stalagmites protruded from the ground almost as if they were man made, and tiny fissures and blemishes were littered all over the floor.

"Alright Leon you know what do?" Tobias asked as his hands tightly grasped the leather hilt of his sheathed sword attached to his hip. He started to pull on the hilt creating the swift sound of his sword rubbing smoothly against the metal sheath. He then positioned his legs for battle, and finally whipped out a double edged sword with his right hand.

Leon nodded, using his left hand he tugged out his sword revealing a curved, slender, and single-edged blade. He then tossed aside his leather sheath to the floor, and took his battle stance. Tobias' eyes widened at the unfamiliar sword Leon whipped out, and felt a vain pulsate on his forehead and his temper flaring.

"What happened to the sword His Majesty knighted you with?" Tobias asked sharply while giving Leon a piercing stare.

Leon's fiery eyes for battle extinguished and closed half way, raising an eyebrow as his head slowly swiveled towards Tobias.

"Really?" He responded annoyed. "I mean right now; you're really going to make a mountain over a mole hill?" Leon added.

Tobias' left his stance and his left palm held his forehead.

"Your sword the King bestowed upon you, how the hell could you lose it?"

"First of all, I didn't lose it, I sold it to one of the traveling merchants from Mizuho we came across on our way here and-"

"YOU SOLD IT?" Tobias yelled stopping Leon midsentence. "That sword was given to you by the King as a symbol of your knighthood!" Tobias stammered while he took his hand from his forehead and stretched his index finger at Leon.

Leon started to roll his eyes as his stance started to ease away. "Symbol of my knighthood, really? As if this tin can I'm wearing doesn't already show that," Leon emphasized by pounding his steel chest plate with his right fist.

While Tobias and Leon were squabbling with each other, Tabatha watched the two from behind clueless on how to handle the two knights.

"Uh, guys we…" Tabatha tried to interject, but the two knights were too deeply engaged with their argument to notice her.

"You didn't let me finish, those long swords the king gives away don't suit my fighting style," Leon bitterly said while pointing the end pommel of his sword towards himself.

"You're supposed to use the Papal Knight's sword techniques!" Tobias screamed as he stomped his foot on the rock floor.

"What? So the Papal Knights are against individualism?"

"Martel help me, there's no point arguing with you!"

"So then why start an argument?"

As the two men continued on, Tabatha's hands curled up into fists and her nostrils started to flare as the yelling chipped away at her patience.

Finally, Tabatha could no longer hold in her frustrations and shrieked, "Will you two please just stop fighting for one second and listen?" Her voice bounced off the canyons of the temple, freighting the two iron clad men into submission.

For a moment both of the knights were wide eyed and mouths agape from Tabatha's break from her usual patient façade.

"Wow Tabatha… where did that come from?" Leon said amazed.

Once the moment completely registered with Tobias' brain, he faced his whole body towards Tabatha and bowed his blonde head repeatedly in an apologetic manner.

"Chosen Tabatha… My deepest apologies," Tobias said as the collar of his armor suddenly became unbearably hot.

After releasing her frustrations with that single shriek, Tabatha came back to her senses, and became red as a tomato from her realization of straying from the Goddess Martel's commandments of "never raising one's voice."

"Can we please just get on releasing the seal you two?" Tabatha murmured facing away from Tobias and Leon.

As the three of them were still speechless and unsure of what to do, the yellow radiating aura from the altar behind them started to flicker. The three quickly noticed from behind them and turned a complete one eighty to see what was going on. The bright aura kept flickering and the ground they stood on shook violently as the mini fissures that surrounded the altar grew, and came into center. Leon's sense balance went through the window as he stumbled from left to right while Tobias was kneeling on his knees and held onto the Chosen, covering her head from falling debris. When all the fissures stretched into the same spot, the ground's shaking slowly stopped.

Leon and Tobias got up and stood into battle stance as the shaking settled, and commanded Tabatha to keep her distance. The two knights eyed at the gathering of the fissures waiting for whatever it was to come on out. As they stood there with adrenaline pumping into their systems, Leon's forehead started to form a bead a sweat from the anticipation which slowly slithered down to the corner of his left eyebrow and fell off like a rain droplet as it splashed against the dusty ground.

A stone behemoth came bursting out of the center where all the fissures collided and the stalagmites that surrounded the altar shattered like glass, flying in all directions with blinding speed. Leon managed to swiftly dodge a majority of the explosion of sediments and the rest were easily deflected with a swing of his sword. Tobias on the other hand had stood his ground and blocked the razor like stones from hitting Tabatha, as a result his armor had bits and pieces of rock stabbed into it, and the left side of his face had minor cuts.

"Dammit that was close… Tobey, you alright?" Leon huffed as he eyed the massive amount damage Tobias' armor had sustained.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tobias hissed from the tiny cuts on his face while releasing Tabatha from his grasp. "This is why we wear uncomfortable heavy suits of armor," He continued with a cocky smirk.

"Heh, say what you want, but I'm still not convinced these tin cans are good for anything," chuckled Leon.

Tabatha still on her knees, uncovered her hands from her head, and slowly opened her eyes to see Tobias' left portion of his face covered in tiny cuts.

"Tobias, your face…" she gasped as she reached up and brought him down to eye level. Tobias felt her soft and supple hands gently caress his cheeks, and he felt her breathing brushing against his lips. Tobias instantly flailed away from Tabatha into a flustered wreck, and this was enough encouragement for him to stand up and regain his stance.

Leon meanwhile was observing the earth behemoth as it was just standing in the exact spot where it revealed itself. Leon noticed its rough and coarse exterior, feeling a direct slash from his sword would do nothing, but only damage his own curved blade.

"Tobias, I don't think direct attacks will work on this big guy," Leon informed Tobias still keeping his stance and eyes towards the behemoth.

"Yeah I see your point. That rock body of his would just snap our swords if we just swing at him," Tobias said pointing his sword at the creature.

"Stick to projectile artes then?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, seems like that's what'll do the trick," Tobias assured Leon.

Then suddenly the earth below them violently shook again, but instead new fissures were formed around the stone behemoth. The shaking stopped, but this only made Leon even more anxious and expected something far worse to come. On each newly formed fissure a stone hand clawed their way out revealing more stone behemoths that guarded the seal.

"Crap…this isn't what I signed up for…" Leon sighed.

* * *

**A/N: Alrighty, I'm trying to keep the chapters within a 4,000 to 6,000 word limit. If you guys feel if it's too short let me know, and also catch me on any grammar or spelling issues, but remember to be constructive when critiquing. **


	2. All Along the Watchtower

**Chapter 2: All Along the Watchtower**

**Past**

_Meltokio: 2 months before the Journey of Regeneration of Tethe'alla _

"Ugh, dammit… this is so boring," Yawned a raven haired knight with his elbows resting against the stone railing of the balcony attached to the massive archway of the city gate.

The sky was clear blue and the sun's harsh rays oppressively heated the grand city of Meltokio. From his vantage point, Leon could see the architectural grandeurs that made up the upper district of the city: the coble stone castles, the elegant mahogany mansions, and the quaint shops and inns. While in contrast he could see the dilapidated houses and buildings that littered the lower district of Meltokio.

The aristocrats of the upper district cooled off by having their servants fan them while they relax on their porches, and if they needed to go out they'd have their servants carry elegantly designed umbrellas to shade them while they continue their promenade. The lower district folks sat outside sweating and miserable to escape their ovens of homes. The balcony Leon was keeping guard on provided just enough shade from being cooked in his already heavy chain mail armor he was required to wear. As Leon people watched with his chin resting on the stone railing, his eyes started to get heavier and heavier as the cool gentle breeze of the summer air started to lull him to an afternoon snooze. Leon's eyelids yanked opened, quickly shaking his head to get the drowsiness off, and he started to whistle tunelessly as he walked towards the other side of the balcony. Looking outside the city walls, he could see the vast open fields of drying grass in the summer heat as the wind blew the blades.

'Man, I'd do anything to just take off this tin can and sleep on that grass for the rest of the day,' Leon thought to himself as he started to slouch against the railing and hung his arms.

The gentle wind caressed away his messy bangs from his face as he slowly let the scenery sink in and his eyelids began to slowly seal. Before the young knight nearly fell asleep, the faint noise of horses neighing and their galloping littered the peaceful silence of the grassy plains. As the galloping came louder and closer, Leon's eyes slowly opened halfway and looked out into the distance of the dirt road in the middle of the plains. With his head still resting against the stone railing, he squint his eyes to look past the haze of the sun to see two horses parallel from each other with a carriage attached from behind them. He noticed the carriage's wheels spewing dust and dirt profusely from the road as it raced towards the city.

"What's the rush?" Leon grumbled to himself as he raised an eyebrow.

As the horses and carriage became visible enough for Leon to not squint his eyes, he noticed the cabby who was holding onto the horses with leather harnesses was slouched over in his seat and appeared to have an arrow lodged deep into his back. Leon snapped out of his lackadaisical trance, and lifted his head up and tightly gripped on the stone railing as he watched the cabby's body fall off the carriage. The lowly knight watched in horror as the back wheels of the carriage began to falter as it crushed the cabby's body from underneath. The carriage was swaying left and right with its wheels lifting from the ground, the horses were neighing of hellish portions as they kept dragging the carriage. Eventually the carriage toppled and flipped over on its side causing the two horses that were harnessed onto the carriage to trip and drag their corpses into the dusty road.

Once the chaos settled, all Leon could see was an explosion of dust, dirt and haze that shrouded the accident. Leon grabbed his sword sheath resting on the bars of the balcony and slid down the stone ladders of the archway. Once he got down, he dashed towards the dirt road with adrenaline fueling his running speed as the sun's blazing heat was beating on his head. As Leon was running towards the fallen carriage, he spotted a couple of shadowy figures in the distance of the dirt road. Leon quickly used the cover of the boulders that surrounded the road to hide from the approaching figures, hoping the cover of the dust cloud from the accident would shroud his location.

As Leon had his back pressed tightly against the boulder, he crooked his head to the side of the rock to catch a glimpse of what he was dealing with. The figures from the distance came closer to the accident, revealing a man wearing a tiger hide face mask showing only his eyes, an oddly dressed woman carrying an intricate staff, and another man clad in a purple helmet carrying a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. Once the dust dissipated from the accident, the two horses were now splattered all over the road, and the carriage was flipped on its left side with one of the front wheels still slowly spinning.

"Humph, what a mess," the oddly dressed woman nasally said while pinching her nose as she crept down to examine the dead horses.

"More like a waste," The tiger hide masked man kicked at the one of horses, getting blood on his leather boot. "We could've used these guys. Oh, well… at least we have dinner," he added while dragging the soles of his footwear against the ground to rid of the blood.

The man in the purple helmet tucked in his arrow into his quiver that was attached on his back; he then started to climb on top of the fallen carriage, and stomped down on its door, causing it to swing open from inside.

"Aha… lookie whut we haf heera," The archer said in a strange accent as he reached down the carriage and pulled out a dazed and scared middle aged man by his long brown locks.

The man's face wrinkled in pain as he was being hung by the locks of his hair. The archer threw the middle aged man off the carriage and into the dusty road, reacting with all the wind being blown out of him as he started to cough and groan.

"You blokes know ou dis is? The ransom on dis ol' geezer coud set us fer life," the archer said as he sat on the fallen carriage and nodded his towards the man in the dirt.

The two other bandits examined the elegant white robes the man donned as he groveled in his place.

"Please…. don't hurt me," pleaded the middle aged man as he covered his head with his arms.

"Well, looks like it's our lucky day, boys," the woman snarled as she grabbed the man by the collar of his robe.

"Why? It's just some old noble from Meltokio. You know how complicated ransom situations are?" The tiger hide man said as he crossed his arms. "We should just slit his throat for the hell of it," he said with a devious grin under his mask as he whipped out a knife from his arms straps causing the noble to go pale as the blade glimmered from the harsh sunlight.

Leon still watching from behind the rock and took a closer look at the noble begging for his life with a raised eyebrow.

"He looks familiar," Leon whispered to himself.

The woman dropped the noble from her grasp and looked at the tiger hided man with sheer disbelief and yelled, "Idiot! Do you not realize who this is? It's th-"

"Azure Edge!" Leon yelled as he slashed his sword through the air sending an accelerating blue blast of concentrated wind that crashed into the woman's abdomen causing her to be thrown off her feet and crash her back against the underside of the toppled carriage.

"Wha- wha da bluudy ell?" the archer exclaimed as he fell backwards from the shaking of the carriage and onto the ground creating a thud as he landed.

The masked bandit was wide eyed as he just witnessed two of his subordinates knocked on the ground and quickly swiveled his head towards the direction of where the arte was shot. Leon was standing in the sights of the bandit, with his armor glimmering from the bright sunlight and held the hilt of his sword firmly with his left hand while the blade rested on the shoulder pads of his armor.

The wind started to pick up causing dust clouds and tumbleweeds to pass through between Leon and the bandit as the two stared down each. Leon's eyebrows were arched and his pupils focused while his mouth was in a smirk, emanating his fierceness for battle and his confidence for his survival.

"Wh- who the hell do you think you are?" The bandit exclaimed as he accidently dropped his knife which the blade end stabbed into the ground.

"Do you not see this tin can I'm wearing?" Leon yelled over the gale passing through. "And besides that, who the hell do you think you are coming to my town killing people and looting their carriages?" the knight added as he pointed his right index finger at the bandit.

"Hey, I'm just trying to make a living; I'm like you, wonder boy."

"Wonder boy, huh? That's new… well anyways. Though I respect the idea of trying to make a living, I think killing and stealing from innocent people kinda draws the line."

"Who are you to say what 'draws the line'?"

"As I said before, this tin can I'm wearing isn't only a fashion statement."

"Why don't you just turn around and leave before you get yourself hurt?" The bandit growled as he pulled out an axe on each hand from behind him.

"A bit of a bold statement considering I just wasted your wardrobe disaster of a friend there," Leon said as he nodded towards the unconscious woman near the fallen carriage.

The bandit started to sweat underneath his mask as he eyed the fallen woman and gripped the handles of his axes tighter.

"My offer still stands; you can leave with head on your shoulders, or leave your head for the vultures," the bandit yelled hoping Leon would get intimidated.

"Wow, you are just full of one liners aren't you?" Leon laughed. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I won't let scumbag highwaymen leave these parts without a little parting gift to the face."

The strong wind rustled Leon's messy hair as he kept his calm composure. "And besides, I'm a knight, and it's my duty to bring lowlifes like you and your friends to justice," he pointed the tip of his double edged blade at the bandit. "Alive… or dead," he added for dramatic effect.

There was a brief pause of silence as they glared at each other, tightly gripping their weapons as dust clouds obscured their vision and tumbleweeds rolled by.

"Now… you wanna do this the easy way and turn yourself in…" The dust clouds started to dissipate from their line of sight and could easily see one another through the haze of the sun. "Or my personal preference, see the barbed wired gates of hell?" The knight threatened.

"I'm afraid…" the bandits started raise his right axe into the air. "You'll just have to see those gates for yourself!" He screamed as he threw the axe towards Leon.

The axe spun in the air as it rushed towards Leon, but he quickly averted it by carelessly titling his head to the opposite direction which caused the axe's sharp end to lodge itself into a boulder.

"What were you aiming for? An old lady could aim better than you," The knight scoffed.

The bandit dashed towards Leon with his other axe raised in the air preparing for a slash as he roared.

"Yeah, that's it Tiger, bring it!" Leon exclaimed as he firmly planted his metal boots into the ground.

The bandit came in arm's length and slashed his axe, but Leon stood in place holding the hilt of his sword with both hands and halted the blow with his blade.

"Come on, is that all you got, Tiger?" Leon tauntingly remarked as his blade was grinding against the bandit's axe handle, while the actual sharp edge of the axe was only inches away from Leon's face.

The bandit arms frantically shook as he pressed his axe against the sword, but Leon took his right hand from the hilt and onto the blade and pushed his arms upwards shoving the bandit and his axe away.

"Whoa!" yelled the bandit as he backed stepped a few feet and hunched over holding his wrist.

"I promise this will only hurt for a second!" Leon yelled while charging at his enemy with the end tip of his blade pointing directly at the bandit's chest. As soon as the knight was in arm length of the bandit an arrow was shot and nearly hit Leon's right thigh before stopping and swiveling his body to the side.

The archer was up on his feet with his bow out and an arrow on the drawstring. The tiger hided bandit took advantage of the opening, and swung his axe ferociously and repeatedly. Leon managed to block and dodge each blow with his sword, but his footing was a bit off as the bandit kept barraging the lowly knight with swings and slashes. The more blows Leon had to dodge and block the harder it was for him to keep his defensive stance from breaking. Leon's arms were starting to get exhausted and his footing was starting to dwindle.

'Dammit! I'm gonna lose my stance if I don't think of something quick!' Leon thought to himself while he was struggling to keep his grip on the hilt of his sword.

Then out of the sheer boldness of Leon's instincts and pure luck, he found a brief opening in the bandit's attacks. Leon's right hand left his hilt and clenched into a fist, and swung it in under the bandit. The rapid hacks and slashes came at an abrupt halt as Leon's fist smashed the underside of his foe's chin, causing his lower jaw to collide with his upper jaw which cracked a couple of teeth in the process, and made his entire being fly a couple of feet into the air and landed in a thud.

There Leon stood amazed at his own feat when he saw the masked man lying on the ground unconscious with his fist still raised in the air where he previously delivered the blow. The archer, wide eyed underneath his helmet, dropped the bow and arrow and grabbed the nobleman, putting him into a chokehold with his right arm.

"Dun't you dare take anoder step, you piece of rubbush," the archer demanded Leon as he reached out and pulled out the knife from the ground the bandit previously dropped and lightly pressed the end tip against the man's neck.

"Please don't do it," the nobleman pleaded as his hands gripped onto the archers arms.

Leon's fierce composure started to slowly dwindle into a confused and inquisitive expression.

"Uh… what… did you say?" Leon asked confused and not understanding the archer's demand.

"I said dun't take anoder step or I'm gunna stick dis knife inta dis ol'geezer's windpipe!" the archer yelled back while tightening his grip around the man's neck.

Leon raised an eyebrow and paused for a brief moment to decipher the archer's tirade, but was unsuccessful.

"What? You mind speaking clearly blubber mouth?" Leon asked as he scratched the back of his head.

The archer's forehead started to pop a vein under his helmet and pulled the knife away from the nobleman's neck and pointed it at Leon.

"Listen here you wanka! I said I'm gunna-"

Leon saw an opening and immediately slashed his sword through the air and yelled, "Azure Edge!"

The same concentrated ball of wind shot out of Leon's blade and smashed against the archer's helmet causing his head to forcefully tilt backwards from the sudden force. The archer's head kept ringing like a bell as his helmet shook violently from the blast and he slowly released his grip from the nobleman's neck, finally falling backwards and unconscious onto the dirt floor.

Leon brought the tip of his blade close to his mouth and blew away the smoke from where the arte was shot then brought it to the side and gave his sword a quick twirl between his index and middle finger before putting it back in its sheath.

"Not much of a fight he was…" Leon said to himself.

"Incredible…" the nobleman said in awe as he looked at the fallen marksman then at Leon.

"Are you okay, sir?" Leon asked the nobleman as he brought his sheath to his back and tied the leather straps to his chest.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite fine, thank you some much young knight for rescuing me," the nobleman said as Leon gave him a hand and pulled him up from the ground.

"Just doing my underpaid job, sir," Leon plainly replied as he dusted off his gauntlet covered hands.

"My word, you're quite the swordsman aren't you?"

Leon walked over to the unconscious woman and kneeled down, removing his right gauntlet and placing two fingers on the side of her neck to check for a pulse.

"Yeah, well, I gotta pay my rent somehow, so I have to be," he replied as the tips of his fingers felt a faint pulse.

"Hey sir, could you do me a favor and check if Mr. Eloquence there, is still breathing?" Leon asked the nobleman while pointing at the archer.

The nobleman gave Leon a raised eyebrow.

"It's the least you could after saving your life."

"You do have a point, I suppose…" the nobleman said as he turned around and examined the archer.

While the nobleman was reluctantly looking for a pulse under the archer's helmet, Leon walked towards whatever was left of the horses and took off the leather harnesses that were attached to carriage.

"Young Knight, I believe this criminal is still breathing," the nobleman said as he got up from taking the archer's pulse.

"Good thing he was wearing that helmet or he would've been headless," Leon said faced away fiddling with the leather harnesses.

"Young Knight, what are you trying to accomplish with those harnesses?"

"Umm…" Leon mumbled with his eyes still concentrating on adjusting the harnesses. "I'm going to round up these murdering thieves by tying them up, drag them to town to book 'em, and send them off to the pokey." He added just as he finished modifying the leather straps.

Leon walked over to the tiger hided bandit and used one of the modified harnesses to tie his arms and legs together behind his back with an extra length of leather attached to the bondage to act as a leash.

"The… pokey?" the nobleman emphasized on the last word.

"Yeah, you know… like jail," Leon responded as he went over to the archer to restrain him with the other harness.

"Pokey… must be knight lingo."

"Actually, I- uh read it from a book," Leon said while still working the leather harness around the archer.

"Really? I wouldn't have ever expected a gate guard to be so well read," The nobleman said as he eyed Leon's uniform.

"Yeah well… it's become a hobby I guess. I read whatever book I come across and finish it to the back cover."

"Oh, I see. So are you a fan of any particular genre?" The nobleman continued to suppress his anxiety.

"Umm… I guess anything with a sword bulking hero as the protagonist floats my boat these days, but you know books are quite the rarity and I read whatever I come across."

Leon finished tying the harness around the archer's wrist and ankles together and walked over to the unconscious woman.

"How do you plan on taking the woman to town? You're out of harnesses." The nobleman asked Leon afraid he might be guilt tripped into carrying her himself.

"I'll carry the pretty lady over my shoulder, besides Martel forbids any upper district folk to do any manual labor," Leon sarcastically replied as he threw the woman's body over his shoulder.

The nobleman was flabbergasted at Leon's snide remark with his eyes nearly popping out.

"Young Knight, do you know who I am?"

"Not a clue," Leon apathetically said as he grabbed the two other bandits by the long leather straps of their bondages.

Leon started walking to Meltokio while dragging the two bandits to town and the woman hung over his shoulder.

"Are you coming? They're monsters in these parts you know," Leon yelled over while walking away.

The nobleman broke away from his state of disbelief and ran to Leon's side.

_At the Meltokio Gate_

The young knight and the nobleman had arrived at the towering city gate with the three thieves' unconscious.

"Finally, we're here!" Leon yelled in relief as he dropped the leashes and woman over his shoulder onto the cobblestone pavement.

Leon was hot, exhausted, and lathered in his own sweat from: having to carry three people across the plains, the uncomfortable warm chainmail armor he was forced to wear, and the blazing heat of the sun. As Leon took a moment to close his eyes and stretch his vertebrae from the heavy lifting, a grey haired middle aged man wearing the same chainmail armor came out of the city looking furious at Leon. The nobleman hid behind the young knight.

"Sir Knight Leon Malik!" The senior knight roared while he stomped his foot on the cobble stone floor to snap Leon out of his exhaustion.

"What now, Sadios?" Leon sighed as he opened his eyes half way.

"It's Captain Sadios to you, slacker. You left your post unattended!" Captain Sadios screamed nearly piercing Leon's ear drums

"Could you get any louder?" Leon bitterly inquired.

"Are you even listening? Anything I say you never take seriously and I'm sick of repeating myself over and over again. Do not leave your post unattended, which means; do not sleep on the job, and do not get off the balcony until your shift is over. Do I have to spell it out for you, you lazy incompetent smart mouthed maggot!"

"Smart mouthed? Are you insulting me or was that a compliment?" Leon snidely remarked as he rolled his eyes.

"An insult you lowly ranked scum, and I have more insults where that came from."

As Sadios kept on his tirade, Leon ears started to adapt to the loud volume and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier and finally fell asleep standing in place.

"Leon Malik!" He shouted prying Leon's eyes wide open.

"That's it, Leon! You're fired, get out!" The senior knight roared as he turned red.

Before Leon could respond the nobleman appeared out of hiding behind Leon, Captain Sadios noticed and his eye widened and quickly knelt on one knee and held his head down.

"Your Majesty…" The Captain humbly uttered as his neck started to get hot from the tirade of horrible language he previously dished out.

"Wait, what? Majesty? Who? Where?" Leon dumbfounded and swiveled his head left and right to see who he was talking about, only to make the shocking realization that the nobleman was the only one here.

"At ease Captain," the nobleman said while looking down at Sadios.

"You mean to tell me that you're…" Leon said in disbelief and pointed at the nobleman

"Yes, I'm the King of Tethe'alla," The nobleman finished his sentence.

"Captain Sadios, this young knight here rescued me from these three bandits who ambushed my carriage on the way here," The King said as he placed a hand on Leon's armored shoulder and nodded towards the three unconscious bodies on the ground.

"As your King, I order you to revoke your decision to retire this brave knight, increase his payroll, and give him the rest of the week off."

"Y-yes, yes, of course your Majesty…." Captain Sadios replied as he looked at the three unconscious bodies on the ground behind Leon.

"Now, Leon was it?" The King said with his eyes reverting to Leon and took his hand off his shoulder.

"Umm, yeah… it's Leon, Leon Malik," The young knight hesitated unsure how to behave in front of the King.

The King smiled at the young knight and said, "I have a feeling that'll see you again soon, but for now go home and rest, Captain Sadios will cover your shifts for the rest of week."

The King motioned Captain Sadios to get up and ordered him to bring the three bandits to the kingdom prison and escort him to the royal palace. As the two walked away into the city Leon stood there completely dumbfounded for not realizing he just rescued the King.

The king slightly turned his head so that he could catch a glimpse at Leon standing under the archway as he walked away with the Captain.

'It looks like the Papal Knights will need another suit made,' the king thought to himself.


End file.
